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A Fun-Filled Weekend At The Mulungushi MTB Race

2018 Mulungushi MTB Race

For the 8th year in a row, a hundred racers lined up at the picturesque Mulungushi Dam startline to experience the challenge and beauty of riding through the Zambian bush.

  • Finishers of the 2018 Community Race

Though Zambia’s mountain bike scene has grown to include several unforgettable races, the Mulungushi MTB still stands out as a uniquely fun and family-oriented weekend.

Children playing at the Mulungushi Boat Club
Children playing in the pool at the Mulungushi Boat Club

The race is held at the Mulungushi Boat Club, near Kabwe. Most people come for the entire weekend and bring their family and friends along. Though the main event is the race on Sunday, the Mulungushi experience actually resides in the countless other activities in and around the dam.

Boating is a very popular pastime, and throughout the weekend people can be seen speeding, sailing, and fishing.

Sunset on a speedboat at Mulungushi Dam
Sunset on a speedboat at Mulungushi Dam

For the adrenaline junkies, there is a cliff jumping spot within walking distance of the club.

People hanging out at the cliff jumping area for a post-race dip in the water

There are many places to explore, like the bat cave that cuts from ones side of a hill through to the other; the spillway that has rock pools and a waterfall; and many lesser-known rock pools and waterfalls that can be discovered through obtaining local knowledge and exploration.

Having a picnic at some rock pools after the race

The race its self is on singletrack and jeep track. The terrain varies from flowy flatland to rocky hills, and you can choose to do the 20 km, 40km, or 70 km route. The 20 km route is for beginner riders, so the terrain is non-technical. The 40- and 70 km are for more advanced riders seeking a challenge.

All racers are rewarded with beautiful scenery through forests, villages, and rivers.

A quiet sunset moment above the dam.

Proceeds from the Mulungushi MTB Challenge go to Sunflower Orphanage, aiding in building and maintaining its facilities.

Children receiving their prizes for the kid’s 4km race

This year’s winners were: Sarah Jackman in the 20km women (also 4th overall), Dylan Vaughn in the 20 km men, Nora Richards in the 40 km women, Lance Vaughn in the 40km men, and Bedias Tunkanya in the 70 km.

See below for Mulungushi MTB 2018 results, and follow Mulungushi MTB and ZambiaRaces.com on Facebook for current news.

Mulungushi- Tods ResultsDownload
Mulungushi- Kids ResultsDownload
Mulungushi- 20km OverallDownload
Mulungushi- 20km WomensDownload
Mulungushi- 20km MensDownload
Mulungushi- 40km OverallDownload
Mulungushi- 40km WomensDownload
Mulungushi- 40km MensDownload
Mulungushi- 70km OverallDownload
  • Prizegiving after the Community Race
  • New bike for the 1st Place Community rider
  • A paraglider over the dam
  • 2018 Men’s 70km podium
  • 2018 Women’s 20km Podium
  • Men’s 20km Podium
  • 2018 Women’s 40km Podium
  • 2018 Men’s 40km Podium
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Prozam MTB Supply Sets Up Two Outlets In Lusaka

Prozam MTB Supply Lusaka
Prozam MTB Supply Lusaka

For years, anyone who rode a mountain or road bike in Zambia had the same problem: the spares we all needed could only be bought in South Africa. Today, though, we have some very good news!

Prozam MTB Supply has set up two outlets in Lusaka, stocking a growing range of essential cycling supplies, including chains, brake pads, tires, lubes, sealants, and more. Scroll down for a complete list of their products. The outlets are positioned so that they’re easily accessible from Lusaka’s main MTB areas: Leopard’s Hill and Lilayi.

Prozam MTB are also offering bike repairs, servicing as well as tubeless conversions by appointment only. Call the numbers below to book your bike in:

Andrew 0977345034 or Tash 0966770483

Prozam MTB Leopard’s Hill Outlet: Mudpackers Ltd. (aka. La Sport Zambia)

Mudpackers is inside Leopard’s Hill Business Park, which is on the left, 500m after American International School, if you’re coming from Lusaka. To enter the business park, take the gravel road turning off Leopard’s Hill. After about 100m, enter the gate on your right. Mudpackers is near to Zambean, in the building closest to Leopard’s Hill road.

Contact Trevor 0975869007

Mudpackers Zambia Logo

Prozam MTB Lilayi Outlet: KTM Zambia (aka. Wilson Offroad)

Coming from Lusaka on Kafue road, turn left onto Mukwa drive, which is the second tarred road on the left after you pass the Baobab School main gate. Exactly 1km after you turn on to Mukwa drive, KTM Zambia will be on your left.

Contact Luc 0968450023

KTM Zambia Logo

Here’s what Prozam MTB Supply Has to Offer:

ProZam Squirt Chain Lube

Squirt Long Lasting Dry Lube 120ml & 15ml | Squirt Bio Bike Ready To Use Foam Trigger 500ml

Squirt Bio-Bike 500ml Concentrate | Squirt Barrier Balm 100g & 6g Sachets | Squirt SEAL 200ml & 1000ml

Squirt Chain X10 | Squirt Chain  X9 | Batseal 500ml

ProZam MTB Tyres

Maxxis Tyres 29”, 27.5”, 26″ | Tubes pre slimed and standard 29″,26″,24” | Co2 Adapters & Co2 Cartridges Tubeless Valves | Rim Tape | Tyre Liners | Tyre Levers  | Tubeless Repair Kits | Glueless Patches |             Puncture Repair Kits | Valve Adapters-Presta to Schrader

ProZam Zambia Products

Helmets | Gloves | Saddle Bags | Water Bottles | Pedals | Shock Pumps | Silicone Grips | Bottle Cages |

Multi Tools | MTB Pumps | Brake Pads | Bearings

 

Prozam MTB Supply are looking for resellers of their products outside of Lusaka. 

Contact Andrew on 0977345034 for more information.

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There Is A Time And Place For Being Realistic, But Your Race Isn’t One Of Them

learned optimism blog
learned optimism blog

There Is A Time And Place For Being Realistic, But Your Race Isn’t One Of Them

I started reading “Learned Optimism,” by Martin E.P. Seligman a couple weeks ago, and wanted to share some of the insights I’ve had since. After taking one of the optimism tests in the book, I discovered that, statistically, I’m a total pessimist. I honestly never would have guessed– yes, I have pessimistic thoughts fairly often, but I make an effort to “self-talk” them out my head as they arise. I started out in mountain bike racing as a pretty optimistic teenager. I believed that I was great at it, and would continue to be great at it no matter what.

Over time, as I struggled with body image, weight gain, and failure in big competitions when I should have done well, my optimism degenerated into self-protection. When I decided to do something, I would tell myself to “be realistic” about my expectations– basically meaning that I would never expect to succeed in the beginning of anything. This way, I couldn’t be crushed if I failed. Until now, I actually thought that that “being realistic” was fueling optimism– if I failed, I could easily brush off my shoulders and carry on. What I didn’t realize was that it also meant that I was doing less than my best.

I would go into a competition telling myself that I would just be realistic about my performance expectations: I’d only done an average of 11 miles per hour over similar terrain, so that’s the speed that I could realistically expect to average during the race. I couldn’t realistically expect to beat a girl who has been pro for several more years than me. If my heart rate goes over 180 bpm, I couldn’t realistically expect not to bonk during the race.

“Being realistic” does have a place. If you optimistically decide that you can train without recovery days, your performance is probably going to suffer. If you think that you can nail a 20-foot gap jump after only doing 3-foot ones, you should maybe take a reality check. And taking the time to look realistically at your performance after a race will certainly help you in the long run.

But during a race or competition, there should only be one thing on your mind: doing your absolute best. That means pushing through pain that might have slowed you down before, pushing your limit just a little bit more than you could in training, and focusing on the girl ahead and making a concerted effort to catch her, no matter how good she is.

Optimism and pessimism manifest themselves in very subtle ways, and it takes more than a meme or inspirational speech to change your whole mindset. But through research and concentrated effort, you can find ways to make your mindset healthier, thus improving both your training, racing, and quality of life.

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Week 3 – 1Zambia Training Series

Right, hopefully we’ve established a bit of a routine over the past two weeks. Now that your body and mind have had a chance to adapt to the frequency of riding, we’re going to try and lift the intensity and duration of the rides. From now until the end of March we’ll be in Base phase, in which we will work on building your strength and endurance.

In this week’s tip, I’ll answer a few questions that I’ve received over the first two weeks of the Training Series.

What does low/mid/high tempo mean?

Tempo is just a term that we use to describe how hard you’re working. Low tempo being quite easy, high tempo being very hard. It comes from the Italian word for ‘time,’ and is often used in cycling to describe how rapidly you attempt to cover a particular distance. If you did a 10km time trial, for instance, you would ride at a Very High Tempo, keeping only enough in reserve to make it to the end of 10km. On the other hand, if you did a 120km ride alone, you’d ride a low tempo, conserving your energy to ensure that you make it all the way to the finish. Here is how I like to think of various tempos:

– Recovery – very easy, riding along chatting with friends
– Low tempo – max speed you can sustain for 4 hours
– Medium tempo – max speed you can sustain for 1-2 hours
– High tempo – max speed you can sustain for 30 min
– Sprint – All out, nothing kept in reserve

Which is my biggest and which is my smallest gear?

This is a natural source of confusion in cycling, given that bigger sprockets make for a smaller gear ratio. In this series, the bigger the gear, the faster your wheel is turning. So if you’re on the smallest cog at the back, you’re in a big gear.

Week 3 Program

I’m writing this program on the assumption that my readers are pressed for time, but still want to prepare properly for the 1Zambia. As a result, I’m keeping the duration of the mid week exercises the same, but adding one more workout on Wednesday, and lengthening Saturday’s ride a bit.

Monday 5th Feb:

Off

Tuesday:

30 minutes gentle spinning (on the indoor trainer if necessary). RPE: 3

Wednesday:

30 minute ride, gradually increasing tempo:

  • 5 minutes light spinning to warm up
  • 5 minutes low tempo
  • 5 minutes medium tempo
  • 5 minutes high tempo
  • 20 second all out sprint!
  • 5 minutes low tempo
  • 5 minutes recovery spin
Thursday:
  • 30-minute ride: High/Low Cadence Repeats

 

    • 10 minutes light spinning to warm up. RPE: 3
    • 2 minutes in your biggest gear. Don’t ride full gas. Rather, let your pedalling slow down to about 50rpm (5 revolutions every 6 seconds, if you’re counting manually). Stay seated, and focus on matching the downward push with the upward pull on the pedals. RPE 7
    • 2 minutes in your smallest gear. Really spin your legs as fast as they can go, but without going into an all out sprint. The resistance should be so low that you barely feel it. Again, stay in the saddle, and focus on being smooth and controlled. RPE 5
    • Repeat these two steps 3 times, for a total of 12 minutes.
    • 10 minutes light spinning. RPE 3

Friday:Off

Saturday:

2h 30min MTB ride. Incorporate 2-4 climbs of 4-10 minutes each into the ride. Ride the climbs at medium to high tempo, as though you’re trying to maintain your position in the bunch. If you live near the 1Zambia route, climbs to consider might be:

– Mine Track
– Profanity Hill
– False Topings
– Hangover Hill
– Wake Up Call

Sunday:

Optional cross training. If yesterday didn’t tire you out, do something other than riding today. Running is a natural alternative, but swimming or Pilates will help you build the core and upper body strength that will get you down those rocky descents.

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ZambiaRaces Launches 2018 National MTB Series

Zambia National MTB Series
Zambia National MTB Series

Good News!

After years of hard work by dedicated race organisers around the country, Zambia finally has its own National MTB Series.

The 2018 Zambian National MTB Series will consist of 6 rounds, spread evenly across the country. Championship categories will run from Under 14 (for 13 and 14 year olds) all the way up to 60 plus. The Buffalo Men and Eland Women categories will cater to men weighing over 85kg, and women weighing over 70kg.

For 2018, only your best 4 results out of the 6 races will count. This also means that if you have a crash or puncture at one race, you can redeem yourself at the next round. Riders who complete all 6 races will be rewarded with a super amazing, ultra special Zambia National MTB Series t-shirt.

ZambiaRaces is currently seeking a sponsor for the series.
Sponsorship will cover the following:

– Cost of printing t-shirts for riders who finish all 6 races (sponsor’s logo on shirt).
– Cost of trophies for category podiums at the end of the series (sponsor’s logo incorporated into custom made trophies).
– Cost of running the Zambia Races website, where races are marketed, and results will be posted (sponsor’s logo on website).

Here are the races and the categories. Click the links for more info on the individual races. If you have questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to contact us or the race organizers (contact info on individual event pages).

Open
Intermediate
Under 14
10 March Jubilee Jungle Race Luanshya 70km 35km 35km
26 May Kasanka MTB Race Kasanka National Park 40km 40km 20km
23 June Elephant Epic Lusaka / Lower Zam 70km No Race No Race
6 or 20 July Tangila Trail Series Mkushi 70km 40km 20km
5 August Mulungushi MTB Race Mulungushi Dam (Kabwe) 70km 40km 20km
15 September* Kansanshi MTB Race Solwezi 50km 50km 30km
Open Categories:
Open Men Open Distance All Ages
Open Women Open Distance All Ages
Sub Categories:
Junior Men Intermediate Distance 17, 18
Junior Women Intermediate Distance 17, 18
Youth Men Intermediate Distance 15, 16
Youth Women Intermediate Distance 15, 16
Under 14 Boys Under 14 Distance 13, 14
Under 14 Girls Under 14 Distance 13, 14
Sub Veteran Men Open Distance 30 – 39
Sub Veteran Women Open Distance 30 – 39
Veteran Men Open Distance 40 – 49
Veteran Women Open Distance 40 – 49
Masters Men Open Distance 50 – 59
Masters Women Open Distance 50 – 59
Silver Fox Men Open Distance 60+
Silver Fox Women Open Distance 60+
Buffalo Men Open Distance Over 85kg
Eland Women Open Distance Over 70kg

 

*The Kansanshi MTB date has changed from September 22 to September 15.

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Week 2: Getting ‘Big Race’ Ready – The 1Zambia Training Series

how to train for a mountain bike stage race
how to train for a mountain bike stage race

In terms of training, week 2 is almost going to be a repeat of week 1. I know you’re itching to get out and do some 100km rides in the mountains, but those rides will be much more effective if they’re done after a good adaptation period. We will get there, though.

In week 2 we’re still in the adaptation phase. Last week I talked about the importance of giving your body time to adjust to the demands of regular training. This week’s topic is just as important: helping your mind to adapt to the regular training.

Routine

Routine is important. That’s why Mondays suck. Over the weekend, we break the routine of getting up early and heading off to work. On Mondays we have to force ourselves back into it, and that can be hard, even if you enjoy your job. Something I’ve learned over my years in cycling is that having a routine makes training infinitely easier. Once the routine is established, you can follow it mindlessly. This helps a lot on days when you’re distracted by other stresses.

Here are some tips to help you to develop a sustainable training routine:

– Train at set times on set days. Even if Tuesday’s time is different from Saturday’s time, having set times will help you to incorporate training into your working life, and ward off procrastination. For example, I train with the Kansanshi team at 7:30 AM, six days a week. On Sundays we always train at 13:30, so that guys can go to church in the morning.

– Develop a pre-training sequence. I wake up at 6:00, put my oats in the microwave, and make coffee while the microwave goes. Once I’m done with breakfast, I get my bike and bottles ready, then I kit up. Having this sequence means that as long as I get my oats into the microwave, I can do the rest on autopilot.

 

This Week’s Training

This week we’re encouraging adaptation by forcing you to pedal at high and low cadences. The high cadence efforts will create neurological changes, improving your pedalling efficiency, while the low cadence efforts will create muscular changes, increasing the maximum torque you can produce.

Monday 29th Jan:

Off

Tuesday:

30 minutes gentle spinning (on the indoor trainer if necessary). RPE: 3

Wednesday:

Off

Thursday:
  • 30-minute ride: High/Low Cadence Repeats

 

  • 10 minutes light spinning to warm up. RPE: 3
  • 2 minutes in your biggest gear. Don’t ride full gas. Rather, let your pedalling slow down to about 50rpm (5 revolutions every 6 seconds, if you’re counting manually). Stay seated, and focus on matching the downward push with the upward pull on the pedals. RPE 7
  • 2 minutes in your smallest gear. Really spin your legs as fast as they can go, but without going into an all out sprint. The resistance should be so low that you barely feel it. Again, stay in the saddle, and focus on being smooth and controlled. RPE 5
  • Repeat these two steps 3 times, for a total of 12 minutes.
  • 10 minutes light spinning. RPE 3
  • Friday:

    Off

    Saturday:

    2 hour MTB ride. Ride a route that you know, and try to keep moving consistently from start to finish. Ride the first hour at a pace that feels easier than what you’re capable of. In the second hour, turn up the pace a bit, and try to cover more distance than you did in the first hour. This will build more endurance than hammering out the first hour and limping home.

    Sunday:

    Optional cross training. If yesterday didn’t tire you out, do something other than riding today. Running is a natural alternative, but swimming or Pilates will help you build the core and upper body strength that will get you down those rocky descents.

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Ride Science: The White Powder That Gets Rid Of Leg Burn

Sodium Bicarbonate for athletes
Sodium Bicarbonate for athletes

Ride Science: The White Powder That Gets Rid Of Leg Burn

Sodium Bicarbonate is a substance that we naturally produce and store in our bodies. It’s a buffer: helping to offset the acidifying effects of intense physical activity. Here’s how it works, and how drinking a small amount of it before training might make your cycling experience more pleasurable.

In Theory

When you jump on your bike and go charging up a mountain, your body burns sugars to generate that energy. I won’t put you through the same pain I experienced in trying to understand all the chemistry that goes on, but the long and the short of it is that you end up with lots of hydrogen ions floating about in your blood, and hydrogen ions are bad. They’re acidic, and they make your legs burn. To stop your legs burning, your body has to bind these hydrogen ions to bicarbonate ions.

The trouble is that, though your mind knows that you’re about to go charging up a mountain, your body doesn’t. So your body can’t prepare itself. This is where sodium bicarbonate comes in.

Taking a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water one hour before you go riding will ensure that, when you hit that hill, your body has plenty of extra bicarbonate ions hanging around, and is therefore in an abnormally alkaline state. Normally, pushing your body’s pH around might not be the smartest idea, but by alkalising your body right before you do a bunch of acidifying exercise, you’re actually helping your body to stay neutral.

In Real Life

In real life, what happens is this. You put a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water and stir it so it dissolves. It tastes like piss. You force it down.

For about 40 minutes, you don’t quite feel normal. Perhaps a little tired, and slightly nauseous. After an hour, that goes away and you get on your bike. At first it all feels normal. Until you get to a climb.

Here’s what I notice on the climbs:

– My maximum sustainable power isn’t any different.
– My perceived level of pain and discomfort is MUCH lower.

And here’s the bonus:

– On the way back down the hill, I feel incredible. My bike handling is spot on, and I hardly feel the effects of the effort I’ve just done.

What’s Going On?

What’s going on is that the extra bicarbonate ions in your blood are acting as a vehicle, quickly neutralising hydrogen ions and transporting them to your lungs, to be exhaled. This doesn’t allow your muscles to produce more power, but it does make the work less painful. It may also improve your ability to repeat physical efforts.

Another thing that’s going on is that your nervous system is functioning better. Nerve cells transport messages more efficiently when our bodies are slightly alkaline. To the average person: when your body is acidic, you may feel drowsy; when your body is alkaline, you may feel very conscious and alert.

Disclaimer

Remember, folks, I’m not a doctor. The quantities of sodium bicarbonate I’ve recommended (one teaspoon, one hour before a ride) are small, and are unlikely to have any major side effects. Consuming sodium bicarbonate in larger quantities or in very high concentrations may have uncomfortable, or even dangerous side effects.

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Getting ‘Big Race’ Ready:the 1Zambia Training Series

adaptation phase of training
adaptation phase of training

Right. You’ve just made that decision to ride the 1Zambia (or the Sani2C or any other big race, really), and you’re all excited to get out there and do it. There’s only one problem. For the past three months, you’ve completely forgotten how to ride your bike, and you’ve been working really hard on growing a respectably large belly. Where do you start?Fear not. This series of articles is designed to help you build yourself up in a slow, controlled manner, so you can get the absolute best out of yourself in the time you have available.

The series will contain six articles, each explaining one phase of your training. The phases are as follows:

-Adaptation

-Base

-Aerobic Capacity

-Fine Tuning

-Tapering

-Managing the Race

I’ll publish the series on ZambiaRaces.com, timing them to coincide with the build-up to the 1Zambia. The tips and recommended workouts will also be designed specifically with the 1Zambia in mind, but of course you can use this to help you prepare for any race.

With that said, here we go! Step one:

Adaptation

This is the most important phase of all. I’ve been training and racing for 10 years and I’ve never had so much as a tweaked knee; that’s because I do my adaptation properly. Saddle sores, tendonitis, inflamed ITBs, and a hundred other maladies and ailments all pop up primarily because athletes skip the adaptation phase.

What is it?

The adaptation phase allows your body to get used to being on the bike. Think of building fitness as getting a sun tan. Anyone who’s ever seen a group of European tourists after a full day’s rafting down the Zambezi will understand. They haven’t seen the sun in months, and now they’ve had an overdose of it. They won’t get a nice brown tan. Instead, they’ll turn red, peel, and go back to the same pasty white.

In order to have lasting gains in fitness, it’s important to give your body doses of training that it can withstand. In this phase, too much can be far worse than too little.

So, what do I do?

The key to successful adaptation is frequent, non-stressful workouts. These workouts don’t have to be long, but they do have to be regular. Getting on your bike for just 30 minutes three times during the working week will go a long way in helping your body and mind feel comfortable on the bike.

For 1Zambia, it would be ideal to do adaptation through January. I’ve created a sample program below. For this program I’ve used Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to tell you how hard to go. This is simply a scale from 1 to 10, on which 1 is no effort at all, and 10 is an absolute, gut-wrenching sprint.

Week 1

Monday 22nd Jan: Off
 
Tuesday: 30 minutes gentle spinning (on the indoor trainer if necessary). RPE: 3
 
Wednesday: Off
 
Thursday: 30-minute ride.

    • 10 minutes light spinning to warm up. RPE: 3
    • 2 minutes medium tempo: RPE 6
    2 minutes light spinning: RPE 3
    Repeat the medium tempo effort 3 times, with 2 minutes of light spinning between efforts.
    10 minutes light spinning. RPE 3

 
Friday: Off
 
Saturday: 2 hour MTB ride. Ride a route that you know, and try to keep moving consistently from start to finish. Ride the first hour at a pace that feels easier than what you’re capable of. In the second hour, turn up the pace a bit, and try to cover more distance than you did in the first hour. This will build more endurance than hammering out the first hour and limping home.
 
Sunday: Optional cross training. If yesterday didn’t tire you out, do something other than riding today. Running is a natural alternative, but swimming or Pilates will help you build the core and upper body strength that will get you down those rocky descents.

Tune in next week for Phase 2 of your training!

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Film Review: Wheel Love

Wheel Love Mtb video
Wheel Love Mtb video

Film Review: Wheel Love

During the 2016 DH world cup season, Rob Warner referred to Josh Bryceland as “Perhaps the last derelict to win a World Cup.” It felt like the era of rock star downhillers was coming to an end, and clean-cut professionalism would be the only way to win a race from then on. With Steve Peat having retired, and then Josh Bryceland’s announcement that he wouldn’t race the 2017 season, it seemed like that era was dead and buried. That’s why we needed Wheel Love.

The long intro full of wobbly shots of friends messing around in the woods makes it clear pretty quickly that this isn’t going to be your typical bike film. Or at least that it isn’t going to be your typical professionally produced bike film. Instead it’s something that today’s hard-hitting, physics-defying films quite often miss out on. It’s not about sticking huge new tricks, or hitting impossible drops. It’s a film about feeling: about having fun on a bike with some mates. And the stuff that feels good to ride doesn’t always look good.

After the intro the film gets going, but the style doesn’t really change. There’s no story being told, no voiceover talking about the trails or the riders. Instead there’s a just a feeling that keeps building. It feels more and more like you’re one of the 50to01 crew, just having a good time in the woods.

The footage looks a lot like stuff from the mid 2000s, probably because shots weren’t set up with special lighting or top of the line video cameras. The guys also made no secret of the fact that they sessioned a jump or drop for ages before they moved on. Where bike films typically string shots together to create an illusion of endless flow, Wheel Love tells the truth. Most of the cool stuff in the film took quite a few attempts (crashes) to get right.

The most important thing about the film though, is the message it sends. The wobbly shots and ultra-honest editing are telling us the same thing that Ratboy told us when he left the world cup scene. They’re telling us that, as the industry grows and becomes more professional and corporate, we’re at risk of losing the feeling. The feeling is what we had when we were kids on derelict bikes, spending hours just messing around in the woods down the street. It’s what we had when race wins and Instagram views didn’t matter, but fun did. It’s a message from some of the best bike riders in the world: don’t lose the fun.

Article by Ryan Ellis.

All images are the property of 50to01.

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Should I Follow My Training Program to a “T”?

Nora Richards

Should I Follow My Training Program to a “T”?

Something that I’ve learned on my journey to becoming a pro athlete is that I, personally, do not train well without a coach. If I have coach that I trust, I follow my training program exactly as its given to me, no questions asked. However, this mentally can become a unhealthy compulsion that leads to overtraining.

After training with my coach obsessively for nine months, I fell sick and was forced to take two weeks off. Afterwards, I suddenly had a TON of energy, more strength than I remembered I could have, and I was happier. I realized that I had been severely, chronically fatigued for a long time, and had continued training simply because my training program told me to. My race results had suffered, my mental state had suffered, and my fitness had suffered, simply because I had followed my training to a ‘T.”

This balance between following your training program and following your instincts is something that many athletes struggle with, and one that both rider and coach need to address in their correspondences. Most coaches agree that only the rider herself really knows what’s going on with her body, and yet we hire coaches so that we don’t have to think about that. The compromise, usually, is that the rider should tell the coach exactly how they feel, in as much detail as possible, and the coach will analyze and rewrite their program from there.

There’s one issue with this though: pride and social expectation. Many are unable to distance themselves from the information that they give to their coaches. With me, for example, I feel like I’m whining and making excuses if I say “I feel tired,” too often. By saying “I feel tired,” you put pressure on the coach to make compromises for that. Good coaches should probably be able to say when you should just deal with it an push through, and when you should rest. Nonetheless, the social pressure to fulfill both people’s expectations and needs is there.

​The conclusion, thus, is this: you need to do what feels right to you, and what works best for you. If following your program verbatim makes you feel less guilty and more optimistic about your progress, as it does to me, you should follow the program verbatim and just do your best to communicate with your coach. If you’re following an online training program or feel like your instincts are better than what a coach can give you, do what you feel is best for you.